The ERRIN Closing Conference took place on 1 June 2022. The event served as an opportunity to discuss and reflect on the past four years of ERRIN’s mandate, the lessons learnt and the way forward. As ERRIN comes to an end on 30 June 2022, its heritage is taken over by Frontex Joint Reintegration Programme and ICMPD Return and Reintegration Facility (RRF).
Mr Eeuwke Faber, Chair of the ERRIN Management Board and Deputy Director-General of International Migration Management, opened the conference by “appreciating the tremendous amount of work and the extraordinary results […] achieved in building together and implementing the first truly European and Joint Reintegration Service, [while] harnessing numerous innovative ideas brewing at the work floors of migration services through Europe”. “ERRIN provided the working template for Joint Reintegration, now firmly embedded in the structures of Frontex. We worked with several implementing partners around the world in more than 40 third-countries”, Faber continued.
Ms Jannita Robberse, General Director of the Repatriation and Departure Service of the Netherlands (R&DS) – lead implementing service of ERRIN – attended the event and noted that with ERRIN “we built, managed and actively used a platform for discussion; a network for direct mutual support and, and an informal channel for exchanging ideas allowing for mutual inspiration and cross-pollination”.
During the panel debate, representatives from NL, DE, European Commission, Frontex and ICMPD discussed what the ERRIN programme has achieved, in terms of collaboration among Member States, service providers, local partners and all other international organisations involved in return and reintegration programmes. They further debated on how to integrate ERRIN’s legacy into the new initiatives that stem from it, such as the successful phase out to Frontex and its future role, and where to position ICMPD RRF project.
Mr Ruben Laurijssens, ERRIN Senior Programme Manager, stressed in his closing remarks the importance of programmes such as ERRIN, which serve as platforms to enable European Member States to strengthen and enhance their collaboration. “ERRIN proved to be a great example of how innovation has to start bottom-up and not top-down, in order to better take into account all stakeholders’ interests”, said Mr Laurijssens.
In attendance at the conference, representatives of NL R&DS, Ms Jannita Robberse and Mr Eeuwke Faber, ERRIN European Partner Institutions and Observer Member States (AT, BE, CH, DE, DK, FR, IT, MK, NL, NO, SE), European Commission and the EU Return Coordinator Ms Mari Juritsch, Frontex, ICMPD and ERRIN Project Management Unit.
Take a look at ERRIN closing video.
